Question "Refurbishing" my Gameboy Advance. Thoughts?

[RPGDominion]

As I've stated in my introductory post, I am completely new to the world of electronics. However, I've never been known for setting my sights low, so I've got a project in mind for my first. I'm just wondering if you all, experts compared to myself, think it's possible.

Here's the GBA, which I bought for $40 CDN a while back. Those aren't white hairs on the screen protector, they're scratches. It adds a bit of character, but I'd still like to replace it if possible.

So, I'd like to replace the screen with one that is backlit, and perhaps is more... modern. I can barely see the game on this screen, and I don't know whether that's a design flaw of the GBA itself, or if my screen is particularly damaged. I tried to take a picture of the screen for you, but for some reason, the screen looked much better on my phone's screen than it did on the actual GBA's screen, and it was a lot easier to see.

Second, I hate batteries. I don't mean battery packs which are, obviously, also batteries, but the kind you buy in stores and the GBA chews through, causing you to either have to buy more, or put them into the charger. So, I'd like to replace the whole battery area with a rechargeable battery pack. Besides, it seems a small amount of battery acid damage has occurred in and around the battery... holster?

I don't want to add any more buttons, as it's unlikely I'll use this for anything other than Nintendo Entertainment System, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance games.

Am I in over my head? I hope not, but I'll soon find out! Thank you!

 

[Pacal]

I recommend you to replace the screen with the one with backlight the games look way better,I replaced mine a few months ago as you can see here

About the batteries I don’t know if you can maybe somebody else can answer that

 

[GC64]

Replacing the screen with a backlit screen has been extremely well documented, and is thus a very easy mod to do. You need to obtain an AGS-101 screen, the types in the latest model of the GBA SP, which you can either take from an SP or but an individual screen from ebay. You also need a 32 or 40 pin ribbon cable (determined by your gba model) that will convert the original screen to the new AGS-101 (like this https://ebay.com/itm/141730429656). Here’s a simple tutorial for more info: https://youtube.com/watch?v=eL52H3mnHpI

For the batteries, you could use two 14500 lithium ion batteries which are the same size as AA’s, so they’d fit in the carrier. For a charging circuit, you could use the TP4056 (just google to find it), and fit it between the batteries. The later models I believe have built in protection circuitry. You’d need to drill some kind of hole to put a micro usb port for charging though.
Or, of course, you could always just find an AGB-008 for sale and just use that (its a rechargeable battery pack they made in japan).
Hope that helps

 

[RPGDominion]

Thank you for your replies. Those are all good ideas. I'm afraid I don't have a spare GBA SP, and buying one locally may be very expensive, so I'll see if I can find a screen online. I'll look into the batteries, and see if I can find a rechargeable one to use, perhaps these 14500 lithium ion batteries you mentioned, as I like the thought of not having to overhaul the battery compartment.